Behaviorism

by John B. Watson

Watson was the father of behaviorism. His now-revered lectures on the subject defined behaviorism as a natural science that takes the whole field of human adjustment as its own. It is the business of behaviorist psychology to predict and control human activity. The field has as its aim to be able, given the stimulus, to predict the response, or seeing the reaction, to know the stimulus that produced it. Watson argued that psychology is as good as its what the organism does or says in the general environment. Watson identified "laws" of learning, including frequency and recency. Kimble makes it perfectly clear that Watson's behaviorism, while deeply indebted to Ivan Pavlov, went beyond the Russian master in his treatment of cognition, language, and emotion. It becomes clear that Behaviorism is anything but the reductionist caricature it is often made out to be in the critical literature. For that reason alone, the work merits a wide reading. Behaviorism, as was typical of the psychology of the time, offered a wide array of applications―all of which can be said to fall on the enlightened side of the ledger. At a time of mixed messages, Watson argued against child beating and abuse, for patterns of enlightened techniques of factory management, and for curing the sick and isolating the small cadre of criminals not subject to correction. And anticipating Thomas Szasz, he argued against a doctrine of strictly mental diseases, and for a close scrutiny of behavioral illness and disturbances. Kimble's brilliant introduction to Watson ends with a challenge to subjectivism to provide evidence that Watson's behaviorism cannot explain human actions without introspective notions of the mind. This genuine classic of social science hi our century remains relevant not just for the conduct of psychological research, but for studies in the philosophy of science and the sociology of knowledge.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Philosophy, History, Classics, Linguistics

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878 – September 25, 1958) was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. Watson promoted a change in psychology through his address, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it, which was given at Columbia University in 1913. Through his behaviorist approach, Watson conducted research on animal behavior, child rearing, and advertising. In addition, he conducted the controversial "Little Albert" experiment.

Reviews

[bily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as a beginning of my reading more psychological material outside of the classroom. It is certainly a dated book with ideas that sound, frankly, ridiculous by now, but it is still an important part of psychological history and a documentation for certain beliefs at the time. It started to lose me in the last quarter. The rest of it was really quite and enjoyable to read and simply written.

[Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the behaviourist ideology.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1924, this treatise contains some dated concepts and views. However, if you allow for these innocuous positions then this is an intersting and informative analysis of how behaviourism, as Watson explains it, relates to the psychology and psychoanalysis of the time.

In summary, as human beings, what we learn and how we behave is the result of the totality of the stimulus applied to us, as an organism, from birth until we mature. Covering topics such as the human body, emotions, words, language and thinking; Watson provides observational conculsions from formal experiments, to anchor behaviourism as a modern science.

[Masika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is great for undersatnding the importance of our behavior. I recommend it to anyone interested in psychology and human behavior in general.

[Michael Mcclanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will make you mad, but want to read more.